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Sunday, 30 June 2013 : 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in the reading, particularly the First reading from the First Book of Kings, we listened to the calling of those who had been chosen by our Lord and God. Those whom he had been chosen like Elisha were called, and were given specific trust on certain ministries that they have been entrusted with. Elisha was called from the fields and his oxen by Elijah, to be his successor, and continued the works of the prophet in the lands of the Kingdom of Israel.

We too have our calling, our vocations in life, and what they are depends on what the Lord has in plan for all of us. There are those among us called to be ministers of the Lord, in the same way as Elisha the prophet had once been called. Those of us who are called then, if we accept the calling, become priests, religious, deacons, and all the others who dedicate themselves fully to serve the Lord and minister to His people, while spreading the Good News of the Gospel.

One may think that Christ may sound very rough and impolite when He said that the dead should bury the dead, and one may also think that Christ is being rude when someone asked to first say goodbye to his family before following Him and was rebuked with the words that if someone turn back from their chosen or appointed duty, that person is not fit for the kingdom of God. However, there is in fact great truth inside what Christ had told us today as we heard in our Gospel reading today.

Indeed, in order to serve the Lord, and in order to minister to His people, we must not be half-hearted in our efforts and our work, and we must put all our hearts, all our minds, and all our beings into the works, and focus all of our attention on Christ. There must not be space for doubt or indecision in our hearts, or we risk evil to enter our hearts and corrupt our purpose, which may turn the very noble act of our ministry into something corrupted and hideous.

Well, one may say that this is just a one-time farewell, or a one-time thing, but we must not underestimate the power of evil, as little as that is compared to the power of the Lord, and the power of the world’s temptations and allures. Many had fallen into those temptations and could not keep up their commitment to the service to the Lord and His people, and ended up becoming a contempt to the faithful and a disgrace to the Lord and to the faith.

For we humans are weak, and we are naturally predisposed to temptations and human desires, desire for wealth, and desire for pleasure. If we do not have a hundred percent attention on the Lord, and if we do not put all our hearts and beings into the task ahead of us, not just for the case of the service to the Lord and God’s ministers, but indeed for any other occupations and careers, we must be entirely focused on what we are doing, or we risk mistakes and other flaws that may undermine our own credibility and trustworthiness.

Worse still for the servants of the Lord, because we are directly accountable to God for our actions, our words, and our deeds. When one especially has been called and had chosen to accept the calling and become one of the servants of the Lord, one must not be distracted by worldly concerns and desires. Not even one peek! Since even one peek would tend to corrupt our hearts and twist the true purpose of our ministry, even with just one attempt.

We often think that, ‘It’s only once, it won’t hurt, will not try it again anyway afterwards’, but there is no guarantee that after the first one we will definitely not do it a second time, a third time, or even become an addict. And for priests, religious, and servants of God, a very strict code of conduct must indeed be in place, for they have been marked and appointed as shepherds of God’s people, and shepherds cannot lead their flock unless they themselves have been proper in their conduct and behaviour.

The sheep follow the shepherd, and therefore, if the shepherd does something wrong, the sheep of the flock are bound to follow the actions of the shepherd. We who are called and chosen have to remember that we are responsible for God’s people and to the Lord Himself, in that we must make sure that we do not make any of God’s children, to fall into sin because of us. Remember that Christ greatly chastised those people who did so, “Better for those who let these little ones to fall into sin, to go into hell and be tortured there for eternity’. He condemned those who had misused their authority and abused people’s trust and God’s trust in them.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today pray for those called and chosen, for those priests, bishops, our Pope, and those in the religious orders, that they will remain faithful and steadfast in their faith and in their calling, that they will faithfully discharge the duties that the Lord had entrusted them, and lead the flock God had entrusted them with dignity, love, compassion, and determination.

Let us also pray for those who are aspiring to join the service of the Lord, and those who had been called, but had not made their decisions in their lives. Let us pray, that indeed, in the face of so many worldly temptations and allures, they can remain faithful to their faith and their calling. Let us pray that the parents of those who are called will not be stubborn and reject God’s call for the sake of their own selfish desire for their children. This is one of the main reason why so many did not end up follow their calling, because their parents and their families did not support God’s work by their rejection!

For parents, let’s be open-minded, and be open to the fact that one of your sons and daughters may be called by God to be His servants to serve His people, all of us, and instead of disgust and opposition, take that as a great opportunity and an honourable occasion. Not everyone is called, and not everyone is worthy, and as the parents of those who had been called, all of us should be proud of them instead, and support them to make a wise and carefully thought decision.

May the Lord therefore grant all of us strength and determination to persevere in our missions in life, to be a loving child of God, to be a loving brethren to our brothers and sisters in need, and to listen to God’s will. May the Lord be with all those whom He had chosen from among us, that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide them and strengthen their faith, resolve, and dedication to their respective ministries. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 May 2013 : Solemnity of the Pentecost, Pentecost Sunday (Scripture Reflection)

Happy Pentecost, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today marks the end of the fifty days Easter season, and the end of the long celebrations of Christ’s glorious resurrection. Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the liturgical Ordinary Time again in the Church, with the seventh Ordinary week. But Easter does not end here, but it in fact continues and we should always rejoice in the resurrection of the Lord and continue to carry on the Easter spirit that is within us, to be witnesses of Christ’s resurrection and glory.

Pentecost is a very important day in the history of the Church and indeed is a crucial event that all of us who believes in Christ must treasure and understand. For Pentecost, as many of us would have known from our early days that it marks the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles in Jerusalem, when the Advocate, that is the Holy Spirit promised by Christ our Lord finally arrives and inflames the hearts of all the disciples, and teach them all that they need to know about the Lord.

Pentecost, through the Holy Spirit’s entry into the hearts of the disciples, transformed them from the weak, ordinary human that they were, to be the powerful champions of God and His presence in this world. Through the disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the believers in Christ, which once was cowered in great fear and confusion by the death of Christ, exploded outwards and began the work of salvation of all mankind, which continues even to this day.

Today marked the birth of our Church, the Roman Catholic Church. This Church had begun on that day, with the conversion of more than three thousand souls to the cause of the Lord. That because Peter, the leader of the Apostles, filled with the flames of the Holy Spirit, rose up to defend the Lord and preach the truth to the people, without fear that once gripped the hearts of all the disciples. Gone were the fear and confusion, and with the Holy Spirit giving them all the knowledge of the faith, all were clear to them, and they preached the Gospels of the Lord, the Gospel of truth, and many accepted the Lord that day.

As Christ had once told His disciples in His sermon, He told them that the Holy Spirit brought with It various gifts to those whom the Spirit was willing to come and dwell within. The Holy Spirit gives courage to the hearts of mankind, and they encourage those who had been paralyzed by fear, and that was why the apostles suddenly became so forthcoming in proclaiming the truth of God, when they were just moments before so fearful of capture by the Jewish authorities that they were gathered in a locked room.

The Holy Spirit also gives the gifts of tongues, that is the ability to speak in various languages, and this was told in the first reading today that the apostles spoke various languages, praising the Lord, and were heard by the visitors from all over the world that were at the time gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival. This gift allows the disciples to preach to the people in their own native tongues and therefore greatly enhanced their ability to spread the Good News of the Lord to the peoples of various countries, and this itself also played a crucial role in the birth and growth of the Church of God.

The Holy Spirit also gives guidance to those who have uncertainty in their path, and this Holy Spirit becomes truly the Advocate, guiding the apostles in their missions throughout the Mediterranean, for the next few decades, particularly in the missions and travels of St. Paul the Apostle, who brought the Word of God to many people, Jews and Gentiles alike, that many of them became the believers in Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, many became the children of God and be saved.

The Holy Spirit remains at work in our Church today, and is evident in the many works of evangelisation by our courageous and tireless missionaries that preach the word of God in many areas of the world today, bringing the light of God to many in various nations. We too can play our part, as we too have been given the Holy Spirit through our own baptism and strengthened in our own confirmation.

We can help the process of evangelisation, by reflecting Christ in our actions, our words, and all our deeds, that through us, the light of Christ can be seen by those around us, and then they may believe and become followers of Christ too, just like all of us. But do not seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit with greed, just like what some ‘Christians’ like to do. Some like to claim the gift of tongues and languages, blabbering in unintelligible words, as if they truly speak in tongues. Be warned, brothers and sisters, the gift of the Holy Spirit does not always mean external displays and shows such as these, as if we are not careful, instead of the Holy Spirit, we may be dealing with the devil.

Rather, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us use the Holy Spirit within us, and the subtle gifts that It has given us, that is mainly love and hope. Love that inflames our hearts to zealously spread the Word of God to all those around us, through our words, and through our actions. The Holy Spirit also gives us hope and strength of mind, to be always ready and willing to evangelise in the Name of God. With these gifts in our hands, let us become modern missionaries of Christ, spreading the Good News to all nations.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, many people have yet listen to the Word of God, and many also have no chance of receiving the baptism of the Lord, because either they had no access to the Word, or no access to God’s message, or the Scripture, or because of external pressures and prejudice against the faith in the Lord that prevents many from becoming the children of God.

Let the Holy Spirit transform us and through us, let the Holy Spirit do His work in our world, to renew this world, bring the light of Christ into it, and make this world worthy of the Lord our God, when He comes again in His glorious Second Coming. May God strengthen us all with the Holy Spirit that He has sent through His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave the Holy Spirit as the breath of life, to His disciples, and from His disciples to our bishops and priests, and from them to us.